The Hamas Files      

In the Gaza war of 2021, Israel thought it had played tough with an aerial bombing campaign — but Iran smelled weakness, and October 7 was born

Beirut, September 2021

Just after the end of Israel’s 2021 ground operation in Gaza (dubbed “Guardian of the Walls”), Brigadier General Esmail Qaani of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and commander of its Quds Force met with senior Hamas officials for a debriefing. The conclusion of the meeting was clear: The confusion on the Israeli side proved that the time had come for what they called “the Great Campaign” — what we now know as the October 7 massacre.

“[Guardian of the Walls] marked a turning point in the conflict between us and the thieving Jews,” reads a internal document captured from Hamas’s military wing. “This campaign is a stage in the humiliation and disgrace of the Zionists at the hands of its mujahideen servants, so that we can move on to the phase of eliminating their entity and erasing its existence.”

Hamas’s September 2021 meeting with senior Iranian officials focused on analyzing Israeli military tactics and strategy in preparation for the October 7 attack. Hamas’s leadership reported to the Iranians that Israeli strikes on Gaza during the campaign had been minimal. They pointed out that Israel had failed to inflict significant damage on Hamas’s tunnel system, the “Metro,” or on its military nerve center — despite Israeli claims to the contrary.

The success of intelligence coordination between Hamas and Iran during the fighting led to a decision to increase cooperation. On July 1, 2022, a document captured from Hamas shows that Ismail Haniyeh reported to Yahya Sinwar about a secret meeting organized by Iran’s Saeed Izadi, a.k.a. Haj Ramadan, head of the Quds Force Palestine Branch, with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Three possible scenarios were discussed at the meeting: a large-scale strategic campaign involving all elements of the “Axis of Resistance” (excluding Iran itself); an intermediate campaign with partial participation; or an operation by Hamas alone. According to the document, Nasrallah expressed support for the first and most comprehensive scenario, stating, “The data and circumstances confirm that this is a realistic and achievable scenario.”